Mechanisms for roaming between 3gpp operators and wlan service providers

ABSTRACT

Embodiments describe methods, apparatuses and logic for a user equipment (UE) to connect to an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) based on credentials from a UE&#39;s home third generation partnership project (3GPP) network. In some embodiments, the UE may receive selection policy parameters from the WLAN including a network access identifier (NAI) realm. The UE may also receive selection policy parameters from the 3GPP network. The UE may compare the selection policy parameters of the WLAN with the selection policy parameters of the 3GPP network and discover roaming relationships between service providers and the relative priorities of different networks, and create a network list based on the comparison. The UE may then associate with an AP of the WLAN based on the prioritized network list.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/674,274, filed Jul. 20, 2012, entitled “AdvancedWireless Communication Systems and Techniques,” the entire disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments relate to systems, methods and instructions for a thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) user equipment (UE) to leveragewireless local area network (WLAN) roaming parameters when leaving a3GPP network.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches describedin this section are not prior art to the claims in the presentdisclosure and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in thissection.

Current 3GPP specifications may use service set identifiers (SSIDs) orhomogenous extended SSIDs (HESSIDs) to identify a WLAN to which anaccess point (AP) belongs. SSIDs and HESSIDs will be collectivelyreferred to herein as SSIDs. Specifically, the use of SSIDs may occurduring a network discovery and selection process when a UE on the 3GPPnetwork is attempting to connect with a WLAN.

However, SSIDs may not be guaranteed to be unique. Additionally, if a UEis bound by rules of a roaming agreement between the 3GPP network andone or more WLAN service providers, the UE may need to have knowledge ofall of the SSIDs of all of the service provider partners of the 3GPPnetwork. Management of the SSIDs can become difficult because each ofthe WLAN service providers may have multiple SSIDs. Additionally, WLANservice providers may occasionally add or remove an SSID. Anotherdifficulty with managing SSIDs is that new roaming agreements may be putin place, or existing roaming agreements may be terminated, making itdifficult to manage the SSIDs of all of the WLAN service providers thatthe 3GPP network operator has a roaming agreement with. Finally, not allSSIDs may be broadcast over the air, making it difficult to discoverWLAN roaming relationships and public land mobile networks (PLMNs)supported by the un-broadcast SSIDs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a high-level example of a networksystem comprising a UE and a base station, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary multi-operator network, in accordancewith various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary connection procedure, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example system that may be used topractice various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Apparatuses, methods, and storage media are described herein forallowing a UE to query one or more WLANs according to a WLAN query, forexample using protocols such as an access network query protocol (ANQP).The UE may also query the UE's home network according to a 3GPP query orbased on pre-provisioned subscription information on the UE. One purposeof the query is to identify one or more WLAN network selection policyparameters, for example data related to a roaming consortium,organizationally unique identifiers (OUIs), or network access identifier(NAI) realms, signifying an existing roaming agreement between the UE'shome network and the WLAN. The UE can use the data related to theadditional roaming identifiers to identify and connect to WLAN APs thathave an agreement with the UE's home 3GPP network service provider.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way ofillustration embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions oroperations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should notbe construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “A and/or B” and“A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B),(A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “inembodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same ordifferent embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,”“having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, are synonymous.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a two-entity wireless communicationnetwork 100 in accordance with various embodiments. Wirelesscommunication network 100 (hereinafter “network 100”) may be a radioaccess network of a 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) network such as anevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). In otherembodiments, the network 100 may be a WLAN radio access networkconforming to one or more institute of electrical and electronicsengineers specifications such as the institute of electrical andelectronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification. The network 100 mayinclude a base station 105, configured to wirelessly communicate with aUE 110. The base station 105 may be a 3GPP eNodeB (eNB) or a WLAN accesspoint (AP). The UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or moreof a 3GPP eNB or a WLAN AP either one at a time or substantially inparallel with one another.

As shown in FIG. 1, the UE 110 may include a transceiver module 120. Thetransceiver module 120 may be further coupled with an antenna 125 of theUE 110 for communicating wirelessly with other components of the network100, e.g., base station 105. The antenna 125 may be powered by a poweramplifier 130 which may be a component of the transceiver module 120, asshown in FIG. 1, or may be a separate component of the UE 110. In oneembodiment, the power amplifier 130 provides the power for alltransmissions on the antenna 125. In other embodiments, there may bemultiple power amplifiers, multiple antennas, or both, on the UE 110.

Similarly, the base station 105 may include a transceiver module 135coupled with an antenna 140 of the base station 105 for communicatingwirelessly with a network component such as the UE 110. The base station105 may further include a power amplifier 145 coupled with thetransceiver module 130 and a power controller 150. In one embodiment,the power amplifier 145 provides the power for all transmissions on theantenna 140. In other embodiments, there may be multiple poweramplifiers or multiple antennas, or both on the base station 105.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary network 200 with multiple entities. Thedescription herein will refer to network 200 as a network, but it willbe understood that in certain embodiments network 200 may be moreaccurately referred to as a collection of heterogeneous networks. Thenetwork may comprise 3GPP Network 205 owned by Operator A and a 3GPPNetwork 210 owned by Operator B. The network 200 may include a UE 220which may have an agreement 223 with Operator A to use Operator A as theUE's home network. In some embodiments, the 3GPP network 205 may be thehome public land mobile network (HPLMN) of the UE 220. In otherembodiments, the 3GPP network 205 may be the visited public land mobilenetwork (VPLMN) of the UE 220. Throughout this specification, the UE's“home” 3GPP network may refer to one or the other of either the HPLMN orthe VPLMN.

The 3GPP Network 205 of Operator A and the 3GPP Network 210 of OperatorB may have a roaming agreement 215 which allows the UE 220 to roam on tothe 3GPP Network 210 of Operator B. In some embodiments the UE 220 ofOperator A may be the UE 110 of FIG. 1. Additionally, the UE 220 mayconnect to the 3GPP Network 205, 210 via an eNB such as the base station105 of FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, Network Operator A may additionally operate a WLANNetwork 225 broadcasting an SSID A 230 via an AP such as base station105. The 3GPP Network 205 of Operator A may be in communication 235 withthe WLAN Network 225 of Operator A because they are both operated byOperator A.

The network 200 may further comprise a WLAN network 240 operated byoperator C and broadcasting a SSID C 245 via an AP such as base station105. Operator A and Operator C may have a roaming agreement 250 betweenthem specifying the conditions for a UE on Operator A's home network toconnect to Operator C's network. In some embodiments, the agreement 250may be a specific WLAN based agreement allowing roaming between the WLANNetwork 225 of Operator A and the WLAN Network 240 of Operator C. Inother embodiments, not shown in FIG. 2, the Agreement between Operator Aand Operator C may be a 3GPP—WLAN based Agreement allowing a UE to roamfrom Operator A's 3GPP Network 205 to the WLAN Network 240 of OperatorC. In both embodiments, Operator C may be considered to have a directroaming relationship with Operator A.

The network 200 may further comprise a WLAN network 255 operated byOperator D and broadcasting SSID D 260 via an AP such as base station105. Operator C and Operator D may have a roaming agreement 265 betweenthem such that a UE on the WLAN Network 240 of Operator C is allowed toroam onto the WLAN Network 255 of Operator D. In one embodiment theagreement 265 may be limited to WLAN to WLAN roaming, while in otherembodiments the agreement 265 may more broadly define the parameters ofnetwork to network roaming between Operators C and D.

Operator D may additionally have an agreement 270 with Operator B suchthat a UE on Operator B's 3GPP network 210 is able to roam onto OperatorD's WLAN Network 255. In some embodiments of the network 200 both theC-D agreement 265 and the B-D agreement 270 may exist, while in otherembodiments Operator D only has an agreement with either Operator B orOperator C. In either embodiment, Operators A and D may be considered tohave an indirect roaming relationship between them. The roamingrelationship is considered indirect because a UE having an agreement 223with Operator A may access Operator D's WLAN Network 255 even thoughOperator A does not have a direct agreement with Operator D.

The network may further comprise a WLAN Network 275 owned by Operator Eand broadcasting SSID E 280. Operator E may not have any agreements withOperators A-D. Therefore, Operators A and D may be considered to have noroaming relationship.

There are additional network selection policy parameters that may beused in WLAN-WLAN network interoperation in conjunction with, or as analternative to, SSIDs. One such identifier is a roaming consortiumidentifier which may identify a group of network service providers withroaming agreements. Specifically, a roaming consortium identifier mayspecifically identify a home network operator which may be capable ofallocating and verifying a UE's security credentials to an AP of a WLAN.In some embodiments where the WLAN concept of roaming consortiums areused in 3GPP networks, 3GPP specifications such as TechnicalSpecification 24.312 v11.4.0 (September 2012), which describe AccessNetwork Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF), may require amendmentto include a specific roaming consortium leaf node identifier, forexample in ANDSF Mobile Object (MO), which may be called aRoamingConsortiumIdentifier. The RoamingConsortiumIdentifier node mayact as a placeholder for identification of Roaming Consortiums of whicha WLAN network operator is a part.

An additional identifier is an OUI. An OUI may be used to identify aWLAN which is lacking a PLMN identifier. In some embodiments where theWLAN concept of OUIs are used in 3GPP networks, 3GPP specifications mayrequire amendment to include a specific leaf node identifier, which maybe called an OUI leaf node. The OUI leaf node may be the organizationidentifier of the UE's home service provider.

A third identifier which may be used is an NAI realm. The NAI realm maybe used to identify a WLAN corresponding to a service provider whosenetworks or services are accessible via an AP of the WLAN. As anexample, an NAI realm for company “XYZ” may be “XYZ.com.” A UE of a WLANor 3GPP operator which has a subscription agreement with company XYZ mayrecognize the NAI realm XYZ.com and be able to connect to the WLAN. Insome embodiments where the WLAN concept of NAI realms are used in 3GPPnetworks, 3GPP specifications may require amendment to include aspecific NAI realm leaf node identifier, which may be called a Realmleaf node. The Realm leaf node may identify the realm associated withthe WLAN network or the UE's home network. A UE may determine if it hasa roaming agreement with a WLAN network through the use of the Realmleaf node. Network selection policies may be specified in 3GPPspecifications based on use of Realms. One embodiment of such a networkselection policy may be, for example, “WLANs that interwork withRealm=RoamingPartnerX.com have the highest access priority.” The UE mayuse Realms and/or OUIs as an alternative to the use of SSID to identifyand prioritize the discovered WLAN access networks.

In some embodiments the Realm leaf node may be used in an NAI home realmquery which may be used by a requesting UE to determine whether the NAIrealms for which it has security credentials, for example through itshome network, are realms corresponding to operators or other entitieswhose networks or services are accessible via the WLAN network. An NAIhome realm query may include, for example only the NAI home realm namesfor which the UE has credentials.

In response to the NAI home realm query, a responding AP of the WLAN mayreturn an NAI realm list, for example formatted according to IEEE802.11u-2011 in one embodiment. The NAI realm list may include only NAIrealms that exactly match the realms contained in the NAI home realmquery. The NAI realm list may contain one or more NAI realm data fieldshaving one or more matching realms contained within an NAI realmsubfield. If the responding WLAN AP has no matching NAI realm subfields,then the NAI realm list may be returned with the NAI realm count set tozero.

In some embodiments, a root NAI format used by the WLAN UE when itattempts to authenticate directly to HPLMN. In other embodiments, adecorated NAI format is used by the WLAN UE when it attempts toauthenticate to HPLMN via VPLMN. In yet other embodiments, analternative NAI format used by the WLAN UE when it attempts to obtain alist of available PLMNs during a manual selection procedure.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the additional networkidentifiers may be used for 3GPP to WLAN network roaming. In thisembodiment, it may be beneficial to enable an ANDSF in the EvolvedPacket Core (EPC) of a 3GPP network to identify preferred WLAN networksby one or more of the selection policy parameters such as a roamingconsortium, an OUI or an NAI realm. In certain embodiments, theinterworking wireless local area network (I-WLAN) interworking MO (IWKMO) as defined, for example, in 3GPP Technical Specification 24.235v11.1.0 (June 2012) may also be enabled to provide the additionalparameters/information during WLAN PLMN selection.

As an example of a roaming consortium including 3GPP networks is shownin FIG. 2. For example, Operators A and C may belong to RoamingConsortium X, as indicated by their respective hashing. In addition,Operators B, C and D may belong to Roaming Consortium Y, as indicated bytheir respective hashing. The cross-hash hashing of Operator C is due toits belonging to both Roaming Consortiums X and Y. As described above,the Operators in a given Roaming Consortium may have a common roamingagreement such that a UE which has an agreement with one operator in theconsortium may roam onto other networks in the same consortium.

FIG. 3 depicts exemplary logic that may be used in one embodiment tomake use of the selection policy parameters when roaming from a 3GPPnetwork to a WLAN network. In this embodiment, the UE 300 may have aninitial connection 305 to a 3GPP Access Network (AN) 310 such as an LTEnetwork. The UE 300 may have access to an ANDSF server 315 of thecurrent network.

The UE 300 may perform passive or active scanning 320 and discover oneor more available target WLAN networks. Specifically, the scanning 320may result in an SSID of a target WLAN 325. It will be understood,particularly with reference to FIG. 2, that multiple WLAN networks maybe discovered, and the following process may be repeated either inparallel or sequentially with each of them. However, the followingdescription will refer to a single target WLAN 325 for clarity. In someembodiments, the UE 300 may gather additional information from a beaconsignal or some other signal, though gathering this additionalinformation may take an extended period of time if there are a largenumber of WLAN networks in the vicinity. In some embodiments the beaconsignal may include OUI data. In some embodiments this additionalinformation may be necessary because it may be difficult for the UE 300to discover roaming relationships between the UE's home network, e.g.,3GPP AN 310, and the target WLAN 325 based only on an identified SSID.

The UE 300 may then send a WLAN query 330 to the target WLAN 325. In oneembodiment, the WLAN query 330 may be an ANQP generic advertisementservice (GAS) query such as the ANQP GAS query defined in IEEE802.11u-2011. In the query, the UE may request selection policyparameters such as the list of roaming consortiums of which the targetWLAN 325 is a part, the OUI of the target WLAN 325 or the NAI realm ofthe target WLAN 325.

The target WLAN 325 may then send a WLAN response 335 to the UE 300. TheWLAN response 335 may correspond to an ANQP response message. The WLANresponse 335 may include the requested selection policy parameters suchas roaming consortium information, OUI information, or NAI realminformation of the target WLAN 325. If the UE 300 queries multiple WLANsand receives responses from the multiple WLANs, the queries andresponses may occur at substantially the same time or they may occurasynchronously with one another. For example the UE 300 may query all ofthe target WLANs at the same time, or it may query a first WLAN, andthen a second WLAN, etc. In some embodiments the UE 300 may wait for aresponse from the first WLAN before it queries a second WLAN.

The UE 300 may then send 3GPP query 340 to the ANDSF Server 315 of theUE's home network for selection policy parameters related to one or moreof the roaming consortiums, NAI realms, or OUIs that are supported bythe UE's home network. The ANDSF Server 315 may send 3GPP response 345to the 3GPP query 340. In one embodiment, the 3GPP query 340 may includethe selection policy parameters related to the roaming consortium, NAIrealms, or OUIs received from the target WLAN 325. For example, the UE300 may query the ANDSF server 315 to verify that the UE's home networkis in the same roaming consortium as the target WLAN 325. Alternatively,the UE 300 may verify that the UE is able to roam to a target WLAN 325identified by a specific NAI realm or OUI. In another embodiment, the UE300 may simply query for any roaming consortiums, NAI realms or OUIsthat the UE's home network has a roaming agreement with. The UE 300 maybe operable to compare the information received from the ANDSF Server315 and the target WLAN 325 to determine whether the UE is able to roamto the target WLAN 325.

Based on the WLAN response 335 and the 3GPP response 345, the UE 300 maycreate a network list 350. The network list may be based on one or moreof the roaming consortiums, NAI realms, or OUIs that are supported bythe UE's home network. Additionally, the network list may be based onwhether the UE's home network has a direct roaming relationship,indirect roaming relation, or no roaming relationship with the targetWLAN 325.

As an example, the UE 300 may evaluate the target WLAN 325 and theinformation received in the 3GPP response 345 from the ANDSF server 315to determine whether the UE's home network and the target WLAN 325belong to the same roaming consortium, which would indicate that aroaming relationship exists between the target WLAN 325 and the UE'shome network.

Similarly, the UE 300 may evaluate the realm list information todetermine whether a relationship exists between the UE's home networkand the target WLAN 325. For example, the UE 300 may compare the realmof the UE's home network with the realm of the target WLAN 325. If therealm of the target WLAN 325 is included in the list of realms supportedby the UE's home network, then the UE 300 may establish that the targetWLAN 325 is a preferred partner of the UE's home network. A similaranalysis may be performed for the OUI information received from thetarget WLAN 325 and the ANDSF server 315.

Based on information such as the roaming relationships identifiedthrough the selection policy parameters such as the roaming consortium,NAI realm and OUI data, the UE may establish a relative priority amongthe different WLANs. The network selection policy parameters may alsoinclude data related to whether the UE's home network has a directroaming relationship, indirect roaming relation, or no roamingrelationship with another WLAN. This data may also be used to establisha relative priority among the different WLANs. In some embodiments, adirect roaming relationship between the UE's home network and the targetWLAN may be ranked with a higher priority than an indirect roamingrelationship between the UE's home network and the target WLAN.Additionally, the indirect roaming relationship may be ranked with ahigher priority than no relationship between the UE's home network andthe target WLAN. Based on this prioritization, the UE 300 may select thehighest ranked WLAN, for example the target WLAN 325, and connect 355 tothe WLAN.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented into a systemusing any suitable hardware and/or software to configure as desired.FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example system 400 that may be usedto practice various embodiments described herein. FIG. 4 illustrates,for one embodiment, an example system 400 having one or moreprocessor(s) 405, system control module 410 coupled to at least one ofthe processor(s) 405, system memory 415 coupled to system control module410, non-volatile memory (NVM)/storage 420 coupled to system controlmodule 410, and one or more communications interface(s) 425 coupled tosystem control module 410.

In some embodiments, the system 400 may be capable of functioning as theUE 110 as described herein. In other embodiments, the system 400 may becapable of functioning as the base station 105 depicted in theembodiment shown in FIG. 1 or any one of the other describedembodiments. In other embodiments, the system 400 may be capable offunctioning as the ANDSF server 315. In some embodiments, the system 400may include one or more computer-readable media (e.g., system memory orNVM/storage 420) having instructions and one or more processors (e.g.,processor(s) 405) coupled with the one or more computer-readable mediaand configured to execute the instructions to implement a module toperform actions described herein.

System control module 410 for one embodiment may include any suitableinterface controllers to provide for any suitable interface to at leastone of the processor(s) 405 and/or to any suitable device or componentin communication with system control module 410.

System control module 410 may include memory controller module 430 toprovide an interface to system memory 415. The memory controller module430 may be a hardware module, a software module, and/or a firmwaremodule.

System memory 415 may be used to load and store data and/orinstructions, for example, for system 400. System memory 415 for oneembodiment may include any suitable volatile memory, such as suitableDRAM, for example. In some embodiments, the system memory 415 mayinclude double data rate type four synchronous dynamic random-accessmemory (DDR4 SDRAM).

System control module 410 for one embodiment may include one or moreinput/output (I/O) controller(s) to provide an interface to NVM/storage420 and communications interface(s) 425.

The NVM/storage 420 may be used to store data and/or instructions, forexample. NVM/storage 420 may include any suitable non-volatile memory,such as flash memory, for example, and/or may include any suitablenon-volatile storage device(s), such as one or more hard disk drive(s)(HDD(s)), one or more compact disc (CD) drive(s), and/or one or moredigital versatile disc (DVD) drive(s), for example.

The NVM/storage 420 may include a storage resource physically part of adevice on which the system 400 is installed or it may be accessible by,but not necessarily a part of, the device. For example, the NVM/storage420 may be accessed over a network via the communications interface(s)425.

Communications interface(s) 425 may provide an interface for system 400to communicate over one or more network(s) and/or with any othersuitable device. The system 400 may wirelessly communicate with the oneor more components of the wireless network in accordance with any of oneor more wireless network standards and/or protocols.

For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 405 may be packagedtogether with logic for one or more controller(s) of system controlmodule 410, e.g., memory controller module 430. For one embodiment, atleast one of the processor(s) 405 may be packaged together with logicfor one or more controllers of system control module 410 to form aSystem in Package (SiP). For one embodiment, at least one of theprocessor(s) 405 may be integrated on the same die with logic for one ormore controller(s) of system control module 410. For one embodiment, atleast one of the processor(s) 405 may be integrated on the same die withlogic for one or more controller(s) of system control module 410 to forma System on Chip (SoC).

In various embodiments, the system 400 may be, but is not limited to, aserver, a workstation, a desktop computing device, or a mobile computingdevice (e.g., a laptop computing device, a handheld computing device, atablet, a netbook, etc.). In various embodiments, the system 400 mayhave more or less components, and/or different architectures. Forexample, in some embodiments, the system 400 includes one or more of acamera, a keyboard, liquid crystal display (LCD) screen (including touchscreen displays), non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, graphicschip, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and speakers.

Embodiments may provide methods, systems or apparatuses, for connectingto an AP in a WLAN by a UE. The connecting may include receiving fromthe AP one or more selection policy parameters of the WLAN including arealm, and also receiving from an entity of a 3GPP network one or moreselection policy parameters of the 3GPP network. The one or moreselection policy parameters of the WLAN may be compared to the one ormore selection policy parameters of the 3GPP network. A network list maybe created based at least in part on the comparison, and the UE mayassociate with the AP based on the network list.

In some embodiments, the realm may be an NAI realm, and the selectionpolicy parameters may include roaming consortium data or OUI data of therespective WLAN or 3GPP network. Additionally, the network list may beprioritized based at least in part on the comparison. The entity of the3GPP network may be an ANDSF entity or an I-WLAN IWK MO.

In certain embodiments, the connecting may further include transmittinga query comprising at least one of the one or more selection policyparameters of the WLAN and receiving the one or more selection policyparameters of the 3GPP network in response to the query. In otherembodiments, the connecting may further include identifying anidentifier of the AP, transmitting a query which may be an ANQP GASquery, and receiving the one or more selection policy parameters of theWLAN from the AP in response to the query.

Some embodiments may be stored as instructions on a computer readablemedia, and the instructions, when executed by a processor of a 3GPP UE,cause the 3GPP UE to receive network selection policy parameters offirst and second WLAN APs, and also receive network selection policyparameters of a 3GPP home network of the UE. The instructions may thencause the 3GPP UE to compare the received network selection policyparameters and construct a network list based on the comparison whereinthe first WLAN AP has a higher priority on the network list than thesecond WLAN AP.

Further embodiments may include a WLAN AP with memory configured tostore an SSID of the WLAN, and further configured to store networkselection policy parameters for a roaming agreement of the WLAN NSP witha 3GPP network operator. In some embodiments, the network selectionpolicy parameters may include a realm of the WLAN. The AP may furtherinclude a transmitter configured to transmit the network selectionpolicy parameters to a 3GPP UE in response to a query from the UEcomprising the SSID. Further, the AP may include a receiver configuredto receive an access request from the UE to join the WLAN from the 3GPPnetwork in response to comparison of the network selection policyparameters with 3GPP network selection policy parameters. In someembodiments, the WLAN NSP and the 3GPP network operator may have adirect or indirect roaming agreement.

Other embodiments may include a method by a 3GPP network operatorcomprising creating a roaming relationship with a WLAN NSP. The 3GPPnetwork operator may then receive a request from a UE on the 3GPPnetwork for network selection policy parameters comprising NAI realmdata and one or more of roaming consortium data and OUI data related tothe roaming relationship. The 3GPP network operator may then transmitthe network selection policy parameters to the UE. In some embodiments,the network selection policy parameters may be transmitted by a 3GPPANDSF. In some embodiments, the network selection policy parameters maydefine a priority for the WLAN NSP based on the roaming relationship.For example, the WLAN NSP may have a highest priority if it has a directroaming relationship with the 3GPP network operator. Alternatively, theWLAN NSP may have a moderate priority if it has an indirect roamingrelationship with the 3GPP network operator. In other embodiments, theWLAN NSP may have a lowest priority if it has no roaming relationshipwith the 3GPP network operator.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described hereinfor purposes of description, this application is intended to cover anyadaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein.Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments described hereinbe limited only by the claims.

Where the disclosure recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalentthereof, such disclosure includes one or more such elements, neitherrequiring nor excluding two or more such element. Further, ordinalindicators (e.g., first, second or third) for identified elements areused to distinguish between the element, and do not indicate or imply arequired or limited number of such elements, nor do they indicate aparticular position or order of such elements unless otherwisespecifically stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for connecting to an access point (AP)in a wireless local area network (WLAN) by a user equipment (UE)comprising: receiving from the AP one or more selection policyparameters of the WLAN including a realm; receiving from an entity of athird generation partnership project (3GPP) network one or moreselection policy parameters of the 3GPP network; comparing the one ormore selection policy parameters of the WLAN to the one or moreselection policy parameters of the 3GPP network; creating a network listbased at least in part on the comparison; and associating with the APbased on the network list.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one ormore selection policy parameters of the WLAN further comprise WLANroaming consortium data or an organizationally unique identifier (OUI)of the WLAN, and the one or more selection policy parameters of the 3GPPnetwork further comprise 3GPP network roaming consortium data or OUIdata of the 3GPP network.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingprioritizing the network list based at least in part on the comparisonof the one or more selection policy parameters of the WLAN to the one ormore selection policy parameters of the 3GPP network
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the realm is a network access identifier (NAI) realm.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity of the 3GPP network is a3GPP Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) entity oran interworking wireless local area network interworking mobile object(I-WLAN IWK MO).
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting a query comprising at least one of the one or moreselection policy parameters of the WLAN; and receiving the one or moreselection policy parameters of the 3GPP network in response to thequery.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying anidentifier of the AP; transmitting a query comprising the identifier tothe AP; and receiving, responsive to the query comprising theidentifier, the one or more selection policy parameters of the WLAN fromthe AP.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the query comprising theidentifier is an Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) GenericAdvertisement Service (GAS) query.
 9. One or more computer readablemedia comprising instructions which, when executed on a processor, causea third generation partnership project (3GPP) user equipment (UE) to:receive network selection policy parameters of a first wireless localarea network (WLAN) access point (AP) including a realm of the firstWLAN AP; receive network selection policy parameters of a second WLAN APincluding a realm of the second WLAN AP; receive network selectionpolicy parameters of a 3GPP home network of the UE from a 3GPP entity ofthe 3GPP home network; compare the network selection policy parametersof the first WLAN AP and the second WLAN AP to the network selectionpolicy parameters of the 3GPP home network; and construct, based on thecomparison, a network list wherein the first WLAN AP has a higherpriority on the network list than the second WLAN AP.
 10. The one ormore computer readable media of claim 9, wherein the network selectionpolicy parameters further comprise roaming consortium data ororganizationally unique identifier (OUI) data.
 11. The one or morecomputer readable media of claim 10, wherein the instructions, inresponse to execution by the 3GPP UE, further cause the 3GPP UE toprioritize the network list based at least in part on the comparison ofthe network selection policy parameters.
 12. The one or more computerreadable media of claim 10, wherein the realm is a network accessidentifier (NAI) realm.
 13. The one or more computer readable media ofclaim 9, wherein the 3GPP entity is a 3GPP Access Network Discovery andSelection Function (ANDSF) entity or an interworking wireless localaccess network interworking mobile object (i-WLAN IWK MO).
 14. The oneor more computer readable media of claim 9, wherein the instructions, inresponse to execution by the 3GPP UE, further cause the UE to: transmita query to the 3GPP entity comprising at least one of the one or morenetwork selection policy parameters of the first WLAN AP or the secondWLAN AP; and receive, responsive to the query, the network selectionpolicy parameters of the 3GPP home network of the UE from the 3GPPentity.
 15. The one or more computer readable media of claim 9, whereinthe instructions, in response to execution by the 3GPP UE, further causethe UE to: identify an identifier of the AP; transmit a query comprisingthe identifier to the AP; and receive, responsive to the query, thenetwork selection policy parameters of the first WLAN AP.
 16. The one ormore computer readable media of claim 9, wherein the query comprisingthe identifier is an Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) GenericAdvertisement Service (GAS) query.
 17. An access point (AP) in awireless local area network (WLAN) comprising: memory configured tostore a service set identifier (SSID) of the WLAN, the memory furtherconfigured to store network selection policy parameters for a roamingagreement of the WLAN network service provider (NSP) with a thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) network operator, the networkselection policy parameters further comprising a realm of the WLAN; atransmitter configured to transmit the network selection policyparameters to a third generation partnership project (3GPP) userequipment (UE) in response to a query from the UE comprising the SSID; areceiver configured to receive an access request from the UE to join theWLAN from the 3GPP network in response to a comparison of the networkselection policy parameters with network selection policy parameters ofthe 3GPP network.
 18. The AP of claim 17, wherein the network selectionpolicy parameters further comprise roaming consortium data or anorganizationally unique identifier (OUI).
 19. The AP of claim 17,wherein the query from the UE is an Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP)Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) query.
 20. The AP of claim 17,wherein the roaming agreement is a direct roaming agreement.
 21. The APof claim 17, wherein the roaming agreement is an indirect roamingagreement.
 22. A method by a third generation partnership project (3GPP)network operator comprising: creating a roaming relationship with awireless local area network (WLAN) network service provider (NSP);receiving a request from a user equipment (UE) on the 3GPP network fornetwork selection policy parameters related to the roaming relationship,the network selection policy parameters comprising network accessidentifier (NAI) realm data and one or more of roaming consortium dataand organizationally unique identifier (OUI) data; and transmitting thenetwork selection policy parameters to the UE.
 23. The method of claim22, wherein the network selection policy parameters is transmitted by a3GPP access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF).
 24. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the network selection policy parametersdefines a priority for the WLAN NSP based on the roaming relationship.25. The method of claim 24, wherein the network selection policyparameters defines a highest priority for the WLAN NSP if the 3GPPnetwork operator has a direct roaming relationship with the WLAN NSP.26. The method of claim 24, wherein the network selection policyparameters defines a moderate priority for the WLAN NSP if the 3GPPnetwork operator has an indirect roaming relationship with the WLAN NSP.27. The method of claim 24, wherein the network selection policyparameters defines a lowest priority for the WLAN NSP if the 3GPPnetwork operator has no roaming relationship with the WLAN NSP.